This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-126163 which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle starter apparatus that is used in a starter apparatus of a vehicle.
2. Related Background Art
Generally, a vehicle engine is driven to start from a starting motor via a one-way clutch.
When the engine is started and when the number of rotations of an output-side member of the one-way clutch caused by means of the engine exceeds the number of rotations of an input-side member of the one-way clutch caused by the starting motor, the one-way clutch starts to run idle.
Normally, while the engine is driven, the one-way clutch runs idle, so that rotation from the engine is intercepted by the one-way clutch, whereby the starting motor is prevented from being rotated and damaged.
For example, in the Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-63902, a crankshaft pulley of the engine is attached to a crank shaft through a clutch and is coupled to a starter pulley of the starter apparatus through a starting belt. The clutch is a one-directional clutch that transmits a drive torque to the crank shaft from the crankshaft pulley at a starting time of the engine and intercepts the drive torque from the crank shaft to the crankshaft pulley after the starting of the engine. Accordingly, since the clutch is disengaged after the engine start, when the starter apparatus is turned off to stop rotation of the starting motor, the rotation of the starting belt and that of the crankshaft pulley are also stopped. With this arrangement, while the engine is driven, a torque generated by the engine is not consumed to rotate the starting belt, so that the torque loss can be reduced.
In the Japan Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-274337, the starter apparatus is provided with a pinion gear attached to an output shaft of a starting motor and a ring gear meshed with the pinion gear. The pinion gear is formed of a helical gear that is provided with a scissors gear mechanism. The ring gear is formed of a helical gear that can mesh with the pinion gear. The ring gear is disposed on the crank shaft of an internal combustion engine, and is always meshed with the pinion gear. Between the ring gear and the crank shaft, there is provided a one-way clutch that allows transmission of driving force only from the starting motor side to the internal combustion engine side.
The present invention has been contrived taking such circumstances as described above into consideration, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle starter apparatus that can prevent rollover (a damage of a one-way clutch due to an excessive load) of the one-way clutch and mitigate vibration of an engine by a damper, thereby preventing fatigue damage or abrasion of a spring that is used in the one-way clutch, so that the one-way clutch may be prevented from being damaged.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a vehicle starter apparatus that incorporates therein a starting motor and a one-way clutch, characterized in that:
a damper for mitigating vibration of an engine is disposed at a position between the one-way clutch and the engine, and at the same time, between the engine and a transmission.
According to the present invention, a damper for reducing vibration of an engine is disposed at a position between a one-way clutch and the engine, and at the same time, between the engine and a transmission. With this arrangement, for example, an impact torque in a reverse direction, that may be caused by erroneous ignition of the engine at the starting time, is reduced by the damper and the torque to be inputted to an output member of the one-way clutch is mitigated.
As a result, it is rendered possible to prevent rollover (a damage of the one-way clutch due to an excessive load), and to mitigate vibration of the engine by means of the damper, thereby preventing fatigue damage or abrasion of a spring that is used in the one-way clutch so that the one-way clutch may be prevented from being damaged.